Robert Beaser
About Robert Beaser
Masterly... dazzlingly colorful, fearless of gesture... beautifully fashioned and ingeniously constructed. - Gramophone Magazine
Robert Beaser is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished creative musicians of his generation. Since 1982, when the New York Times wrote that he possessed a “lyrical gift comparable to that of the late Samuel Barber,” his music has won international acclaim for its balance between dramatic sweep and architectural clarity. He is often cited as an important figure among the “New Tonalists,” composers who are adopting new tonal grammar to their own uses, and through a wide range of media has established his own language as a synthesis of Western tradition and American vernacular.
Beaser’s orchestral CD on London/Argo has garnered considerable attention prompting Gramophone magazine to call his music “Masterly...dazzlingly colorful, fearless of gesture...beautifully fashioned and ingeniously constructed.” The Baltimore Sun writes “Beaser is one of this country’s huge composing talents, with a gift for vocal writing that is perhaps unequaled.” Composed in 1999, his opera The Food of Love, with a libretto by Terrence McNally, is part of the Central Park trilogy, which opened to worldwide critical accolades at Glimmerglass and New York City Opera. The San Francisco Chronicle called his opera “gripping… and arresting... a masterful score with beautiful rhapsodic turns, canny pacing, pungent orchestral writing and magnificently shapely arias.” The Arizona Republic called it “a masterpiece” and USA-Today added, “Beaser’s glistening, percussion-tinged orchestral textures and utterly singable melodies are a joy to hear at every turn.” The opera’s nationally televised broadcast on PBS’s Great Performances received an Emmy nomination in 2000.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Beaser studied literature, political philosophy and music at Yale College, graduating summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa in 1976. He went on to earn his Master of Music, M.M.A. and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Yale School of Music. His principal composition teachers have included Jacob Druckman, Earle Brown, Toru Takemitsu, Arnold Franchetti, Yehudi Wyner and Goffredo Petrassi. In addition, he studied conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller, and William Steinberg at Yale, and composition with Betsy Jolas on a Crofts Fellowship at Tanglewood in 1976. From 1978-1990 he served as co-Music Director and Conductor of the innovative contemporary chamber ensemble Musical Elements at the 92nd Street Y, bringing premieres of over two hundred works to Manhattan. From 1988-1993 he was the Meet the Composer/Composer-in-Residence with the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and now serves as ACO’s Artistic Director. Since 1993, Beaser has been Professor and Chairman of the Composition Department at the Juilliard School in New York.
Beaser’s compositions have earned him numerous awards and honors. At the age of 16, his first orchestral work was performed by the Greater Boston Youth Symphony under his own direction at Jordan Hall in Boston. In 1977 he became the youngest composer to win the Prix de Rome from the American Academy in Rome. In 1986, Beaser’s widely heard Mountain Songs was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Contemporary Composition. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim and Fulbright Foundations, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Charles Ives Scholarship, an ASCAP Composers Award, a Nonesuch Commission Award and a Barlow Commission. In 1995, when the American Academy of Arts and Letters honored him with their lifetime achievement award, the Academy Award in music they wrote: "His masterful orchestrations, clear-cut structures, and logical musical discourse reveal a musical imagination of rare creativity and sensitivity...and put him in the forefront of his generation of composers."
Beaser’s music has been performed and commissioned with regularity both in America and abroad. He has received major commissions from the New York Philharmonic the Chicago Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, The American Composers Orchestra, The Baltimore Symphony and Dawn Upshaw, The Minnesota Orchestra, Chanticleer, New York City Opera, Glimmerglass, and WNET/Great Performances among others. His music has been performed, recorded and commissioned by artists such as Leonard Slatkin, Paula Robison, Richard Stoltzman, Eliot Fisk, James Galway, Lauren Flanigan, John Aler, Ransom Wilson, Carol Wincenc, Dawn Upshaw, David Zinman, Gerard Schwarz, Dennis Russell Davies, Christopher Taylor, Manuel Barrueco, Renée Fleming, Lukas Foss, Paul Sperry, Kim Kashkashian, Alasdair Neale, Stewart Robertson, and Big Bird. His music is featured on commercial recordings released on many record labels including London/Agro, Milken Archives, New World Records, EMI-Electrola, Koch, Siemens and Innova.
Recent events for Robert Beaser and his music include the debut and subsequent European tour of his orchestral work of Evening Prayer by Federico Cortese and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2008; the 2009 premiere of Guitar Concerto, featuring renowned virtuoso Eliot Fisk, which continues to see performances with Fisk and orchestras across the country. In December of 2010, Steven Davis led the University of Missouri-Kansas City Wind Ensemble through the world premiere of Beaser's Manhattan Roll in a new arrangement for wind band. The performance kicked off a tour of over 25 bands across the US. Beaser composed Ground "O" in 2011 in honor of Gerard Schwarz's final season as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony. The premiere took place on February 17, 2011 in Seattle. In 2015, Kevin Sedatole led the premiere of Beaser's The End of Knowing for soprano, baritone and wind ensemble with the Michigan State University Band, which was commissioned by a consortium of 27 bands.
Worklist
Chronology
Graduated summa cum laude from Yale University
David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut "The Heavenly Feast" for soprano and orchestra.
Steven D. Davis leads the University of Missouri-Kansas City Wind Symphony through world premiere of "Manhattan Roll" in new wind ensemble transcription. The performance kicks off a nation-wide tour of the work at more than 25 bands across the US.
Products
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Composer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: 2 trumpets, horn, trombone and bass tromboneProduct number: EA 827In stock€186.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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In stock€35.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for guitar and string orchestra
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for orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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Composer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: Chorale Variations
Instrumentation: OrchestraProduct number: EA 747Out of stock€66.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
A collection of new pieces for pianoMedia Type: Sheet musicInstrumentation: pianoLanguage: EnglishProduct number: ED 21470In stock€10.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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for orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: Double Chorus
Instrumentation: OrchestraProduct number: EA 737In stock€52.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
for orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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Composer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: timpani, harp and string orchestra
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for orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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for guitar and orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: guitar and orchestra
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Composer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: The Heavenly Feast
Instrumentation: soprano and orchestraProduct number: EA 766Out of stock€211.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
Composer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicInstrumentation: flute and guitarProduct number: EA 575In stock€18.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for solo pianoComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: piano
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for wind ensembleComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: wind ensemble
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Composer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: Manhattan Roll
Instrumentation: orchestraProduct number: EA 812In stock€149.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
for orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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for flute and pianoComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Performing scoreInstrumentation: flute and pianoProduct number: EA 597In stock€10.50Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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In stock€21.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for pianoComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: Separate editionSeries: Edition Schott
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 30079 Q11138In stock€2.99Incl. Tax -
for solo piano and orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: Piano Concerto
Instrumentation: piano and orchestraProduct number: EA 738Out of stock€330.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
for piano and orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo piano and orchestra
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for male and female soloists, children's chorus and keyboardComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Choral partInstrumentation: for male and female soloists, children's chorus and keyboardLanguage: English
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for SSAATTBB chorus a cappella with SATB soliComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: SSAATTBB chorus a cappella with SATB soliProduct number: EA 594In stock€73.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for soloists, SATB choir and organComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: soloists, SATB choir and organLanguage: English
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Composer BrochureComposer: Robert BeaserProduct number: KAT 565-99In stock€0.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for tenor (baritone) solo and orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: The Seven Deadly Sins
Instrumentation: tenor or baritone and orchestraLanguage: EnglishProduct number: EA 776Out of stock€211.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
for wind quintetComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Set of partsInstrumentation: wind quintetProduct number: EA 508-01In stock€109.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for wind quintetComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Full scoreInstrumentation: wind quintetProduct number: EA 508In stock€66.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for solo guitarIn stock€15.50Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for soprano and chamber ensembleComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreInstrumentation: Soprano and chamber ensembleProduct number: EA 629Out of stock€66.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for soprano and chamber ensembleComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: soprano and chamber ensembleLanguage: English
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for SATB chorus and organComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Choral scoreInstrumentation: SATB chorus and organLanguage: English
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Composer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: Piano reduction with solo partInstrumentation: flute and orchestraProduct number: ED 31000 Q564226In stock€26.99Incl. Tax
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for flute and orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: solo flute and orchestraProduct number: EA 700Out of stock€126.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for flute and orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo flute and orchestra
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for tenor and chamber ensembleComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: tenor, chamber ensembleLanguage: English
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for tenor and chamber ensembleComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Study scoreSeries: Songs from "The Occasions"
Instrumentation: Tenor and Chamber OrchestraLanguage: EnglishProduct number: EA 573In stock€81.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
for piccolo and pianoComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicInstrumentation: piccolo and pianoProduct number: EA 831In stock€93.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for clarinet and pianoComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: clarinet, piano
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Composer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Set of partsInstrumentation: string quartetProduct number: EA 628-01Out of stock€295.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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Composer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Full scoreInstrumentation: string quartetProduct number: EA 628Out of stock€160.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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for soprano and orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Full scoreSeries: Symphony
Instrumentation: soprano and orchestraLanguage: EnglishProduct number: EA 574Out of stock€330.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
for soprano and orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: soprano and orchestraLanguage: English
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for soli (SATB) and mixed choir (SSAATTBB) a cappellaComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: SSAATTBB a cappella, SATB soliLanguage: English
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for soprano, baritone and wind ensembleComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: ScoreSeries: The End of Knowing
Instrumentation: soprano, baritone and wind ensembleLanguage: EnglishProduct number: ED 30113 Q41991In stock€297.99Incl. Tax -
for soprano, baritone and wind ensembleComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: soprano, baritone and wind ensembleLanguage: English
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for soprano and orchestraComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: soprano and orchestraLanguage: English
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for soprano and pianoComposer: Robert BeaserMedia Type: Sheet musicInstrumentation: soprano and pianoLanguage: EnglishProduct number: EA 596In stock€14.50Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping